News

On April 2, the Lithuanian Delegation for Negotiations with the European Union and the Committee of the European Affairs of the Parliament of Lithuania had a joint meeting where the results of the meeting of the chief negotiators of Lithuania and the EU were discussed. The Foreign Minister, Head of the Delegation Antanas Valionis evaluated the preliminary agreement reached last week in Brussels on the closing of another six negotiating chapters as considerable progress. Valionis stressed that by the end of the Swedish EU Presidency in the first half of 2001 Lithuania will seek to reach an agreement on at least three more chapters. The perspectives of the process of negotiations during the Belgian Presidency in the second half of this year were also discussed in the meeting. The Minister noted that it would be useful for the Governmental European Integration Commission to confirm a detailed action plan, which would help to follow the program of the negotiations. It was stressed in the joint meeting that it is very important to follow steadily the execution of the commitments, which should be implemented in all areas, both those, which are agreed, and those, which are still under negotiation. Issues related to the financing of the preparation for the EU membership in 2002 were also discussed in the meeting.Issues of the public information and communication between the working groups of the Delegation and the interest groups were also discussed in the joint meeting. Both the Foreign Minister Valionis and the Chief Negotiator Petras Auštrevičius reminded the participants of the meeting that the heads of the working groups should be held responsible for the formulating of the decisions, consulting with interest groups, informing and discussing the issues with the public. The Minister also proposed to discuss in the nearest meeting of the Delegation the implementation of the public information strategy, the use of means allocated to the public information program for this year, to analyse, which areas were successful and which had to be improved. 'The public interest in Lithuania's negotiations with the EU is steadily growing and it is very important to ensure that the society is always provided with all information on the process which interests the people,' the Minister said. Head of the Delegation Valionis pointed out to the importance of the discussion on the future of the EU, which is beginning now. A serious political process is started in the EU member states and candidate countries and society should be involved into it as much as possible. According to the Minister, because of this reason more serious discussion on the future of the EU than before should be encouraged in Lithuania, involving Lithuanian politicians, academic society, interest groups, social partners, and representatives of different groups of the society.